SOONER BUZZ
True freshman Spencer Rattler impressive in debut
True freshman Spencer Rattler impressive in debut
NORMAN — There was at least some suspense, some reason to keep watching deep into Oklahoma's 70-14 blow out of over matched South Dakota on Saturday night.
Though the crowd was thinning out by the time he entered the game early in the fourth quarter, Spencer Rattler's entry caused a buzz in the stadium.
Jalen Hurts is the present at quarterback for the Sooners, but Rattler showed why he's considered to be the future.
“All the hype that he had coming into college is actually true ,” wide receiver Ce e Dee Lamb said after watching as Rattler completed all four of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown .“He's a ball er. He knows what he's doing.”
Rattler isn' t the backup to Hurts. That'd be Tanner Mordecai, who looked impressive in his own right Saturday, completing 6 of 8 for 114 yards and a pair of scores.
This is the fifth consecutive year the Sooners have been quarter backed by a transfer.
It seems likely that string will end next year with Rattler and Mordecai battling it out for the starting job.
Rattler was still in high school in the spring instead of leaving early to join the Sooners.
But not only did he work at home but visited Norman in the spring to be ready to go when he arrived in the summer.
“He did a lot of things behind the scenes to get ready and to try and makeup or offset as much as he could for not being here in the spring,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “He really studied out stuff hard, worked hard when he got here, and it was apparent that he didn't just walk in here day one and say, `All right, what are we doing?'
“He had been working on it very hard at home, training hard, and came in here in a good place.”
Just before Rattler went into Saturday's game, Lamb sought out the freshman.
“Go do what you do,” was the simple message Lamb passed along.
Then Rattler did just that. He showcased his accuracy with his second pass, threading the needle in the middle of three defenders to find tight end Austin Stogner, another freshman.
Rattler showed off his arm strength four plays later with a bullet of a pass for a 33-yard gain by Trejan Bridges, allowing the freshman receiver to cut and turn what would've been a nice gain for a first down into something much more.
“There's no limit to his
arm,” Lamb said. “He can throw as far as the best of him. The difference between him and the next person, he can drop the ball on the money. I feel like I see why he was the No. 1-rated dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school.”
Rattler also showed off his legs, with a pair of runs, one for 8 and another for 7 yards.
Rattler isn't likely to play much the rest of the season, barring injury to Hurts and/ or Mordecai. He's likely to be redshirted under the rule that allows players to play in up to four games. But Saturday's performance tantalized Sooners fans.
“He's very smart, he's very attentive, which you have to be when you're a third guy because you aren't getting the same amount of reps as the other two are, ” Riley said. “But he's handled it well so far.”